pic: We've got balance, how bout' you?

[skimoose]

This was the first of four tests we were conducting on the triple balance end game. This was a test of three long/narrow robots balancing. The Lunacy robot in the center is a short/wide configuration machine which still had its hard wheels. So it was orientated sideways and pushed up to position by the third robot. We chose robots weighted to competition specs with bumpers at least at the key interface points. Remember bumpers add an additional 14" of length to your robot train. The frame dimensions on our robots are 1" under the maximum size allowed in both directions. The end robots are not propped up in any way. They were simply designed with the weight biased to the back two axles.

We have also tested;

long/narrow - short/wide - long narrow

short/wide - long/narrow - short wide

short/wide - short/wide - short/wide

arrangement.

These tests have helped us make drive train decisions. One thing that is clear to us, the first and third robots in this operation need to be fairly close to the same weight. Each arrangement has its own challenges which need to be mastered. We also learned a few other important things that will be incorporated into our final designs.